Fathers
by VampedVixen
Summary: Dib and Zim have a little something in common. A little something for Father's Day!


Fatherless  
By Vixen  
Disclaimer: Do you really think they're mine? I'm not *that* messed up. Just Kidding.... The Song is by.. someone who's not me, I forget who.. the computer info comes from "World Book Encyclopedia"  
Author's Note #1: I wrote this while I was pissed off and decided to take my annoyance out on Zim & Dib, to share my pain with them and whatnot. Heehee, I'm better now though :)  
Author's Shameless Plug: www.geocities.com/invaderofearth -- you must go there, I command you! GO!!!  
  
  
  
  
"Our fathers were our models for God. If they bailed, what does that tell you about God? You have to be prepared for the possibility that God does not like you." -Fight Club  
  
It was a June morning, a hot sticky humid icky June morning. Zim had decided to go take Gir out for a walk regardless of how disgusting the weather was that morning. Well, it was either that or let Gir destroy the house by his insane running around hyperness. No, a walk would do them good.  
  
A least that's what Zim thought until he say his arch-nemesis and resident alien hunter, Dib. He had just headed into the mall to get away from the hot sun that was starting to make his green skin blush purple. So he headed into the mall and saw the little pale boy who stood in front of the sporting goods store.  
  
Zim tried to hide from Dib's view, but it was nearly impossible since it was so early in the morning and they were the only ones there except for the employees.   
  
Dib stared down at Zim.   
  
And Zim started right back at Dib, deciding not to hide but to annoy his enemy instead.  
  
"What are you doing here, Earth-slug?"  
  
"Why do you care? It's a free country, and according to you a free planet too..." Dib stopped right before he started to go on another 'aliens-suck' rant. He looked up at the big signs in the window of the store that read 'FATHER'S DAY SALE'.. and 'BUY SOMETHING FOR YOUR DAD... NOW!'. "But, if you must know, I'm here to buy a Father's Day present.. not that you would even know what a father is, and don't try to pass those robots off as parents either, Zim! That was just pathetic."   
  
"And yet it fooled your stupid earthling classmate," Zim smirked. Gir was happily rolling on the floor by this point. "YOU can't know much about Fathers either... your's was just a computer image following you around."  
  
"That was just parent's night, it wasn't important... but my father's going to take me to the Father's Day Picnic in the park tomorrow!" Dib paused. He wasn't actually sure they would go together, there always seemed to be something that came up last minute that prevented them from doing stuff. "See, that's what real humans do on Father's Day, Zim... not like you would know anything about that." Dib turned around and walked away. He wasn't willing to get into an argument with that extraterrestrial this morning. He just wanted to find a present for his father and get out of the horrible yuppie and preppie paradise of a mall.   
  
Zim would have gone after him to bother him even more but Gir pulled him away towards the MacMeaties mini-restaurant. By then Zim was lost in the thought of the Meeeeeat. "Take me to the meeeeat, Gir."  
  
  
  
  
  
Dib had finally decided on a present a few hours later. $25 for a chemistry set. Yet ANOTHER chemistry set. He sighed as he handed his money to the teenager who looked like she had more important things to do than work as a cashier today.   
  
"Thank you for your purchase, please come again." The cashier lady said in total deadpan voice as she handed Dib his bag.   
  
Yes, he probably would. Next time he needed to buy a present for his father. It was all he ever got him. It was all he really knew about his father. They shared the same genes and that was all, they barely even shared the same house. So, after a while of debating he had just bought a science thing-y for him.   
  
But tomorrow he would be enjoying some type of activity of another with his father at the picnic. And they would bond and do all that family stuff they never did. Yeah... right, that was it.   
  
  
  
  
That night Zim sat in his basement trying to come up with a good foolproof plan for world domination.   
  
On a whim he decided to ask the computer about something. "Computer, define 'Father's Day'."   
  
The computer started spewing forth a onslaught of information after a split second. "Father's Day, first celebrated on June 19, 1910, was originated by Sonora Louise Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington in the United States. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd of Spokane, Wash., got the idea to set aside a special day to honor fathers in 1909, after listening to a sermon on Mother's Day. She wanted to honor her father, William Jackson Smart. Smart's wife had died in 1898, and he raised their six children on his own. Dodd drew up a petition recommending adoption of a national father's day. The Spokane Ministerial Association and the local Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) supported it. Through Sonora Dodd's efforts, Spokane celebrated the first Father's Day on June 19, 1910. Over the years, many resolutions to make the day an official national holiday were introduced. Finally, in 1972, President Richard M. Nixon signed Father's Day into law."   
  
Zim mused over the information. It still didn't explain why this holiday was important to Earth kids. Just what made a father so important that everyone needed one. Besides the reproductive value of them Zim just couldn't understand the purpose of fathers. What made a father?   
  
"Bah." He threw his hands up in frustration. "Stupid humans!"   
  
Just then Gir slid down into the basement. "Zimmy, zim, zim, zim, zim! Can we go on a picnic tomarrow? Puhlease? Pretty pretty pleeeeeease with chocolate bubblegum on top? Huh, huh, can we?"  
  
Zim looked down at him with distaste. "Gir, not now, I'm working."  
  
Gir started to cry. Then he started to sign some song he heard off the new radio Zim was working on that he had 'borrowed' while Zim was at school. " And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little boy blue and the man in the moon. 'When you coming home, dad?' 'I don't know when, But we'll get together then.  
You know we'll have a good time then." Gir whimpered and slid out of the basement room.   
  
Zim tried to go back to the work on his computer but couldn't. He just shook his head and said, "I'm never going to be able to take over this planet if I have to babysit Gir." Oh, well, one day wouldn't kill his master plan. They were going to the picnic after all.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Oh, come on Dad, you said that last year," Dib complained. He had made breakfast for his father, and then given him the present he picked out and what thanks did he get? His father had just replied that he had to get to the lab early to work on some extra super special top secret experiment.   
  
"I'm sorry, son. Tell Gaz that I liked her present if she ever wakes up." And then he left.  
  
Dib kicked the wall. Gaz had done the smart thing. She hadn't gotten her hopes up. She just bought a present from the dollar store and put it on the kitchen table last night. Then she had slept in. Most likely she wouldn't even see her father on Father's Day.  
  
"Fine, fine." Dib grimaced. "I'll go to the picnic by myself! I don't need you, I don't need anyone." He wrote his sister a note telling her where he was going and when he would be back, not that it mattered much she wouldn't care enough to even read it.  
  
Dib walked out the front door and slammed it shut. " Just wait till I prove that Zim's an alien, then you won't be able to ignore me anymore," He muttered to himself.   
  
He looked towards the direction of the city park. A couple of miles of a walk but he was up to it. He had a lot of anger to burn.  
  
He hadn't even mind the semi-lameness of a picnic as long as he could hang out with his father for the day, but that thought was quickly dashed away by the reality. It had been so long since he had spent the day with his father, not since he was really young.   
  
Back when their mother was still alive they used to hang out at the beach all the time. Gaz had always loved to bury him in sand, of course he hadn't really liked it that much... but at least they did things together.   
  
Then Dib's mother died and his father turned into a workaholic. And they never saw him much after that. Dib assumed it was because of the hurt of losing his wife that made his father act like this. But, hell, Dib hurt too. He had no mother to spend mother's day with, but he did have a father, which is why today was very important to him. But apparently it just didn't mean as much to his father. Life really sucked sometimes.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Zim walked through the picnic eating cotton candy with Gir. Gir had gotten it smeared all over his little doggie face and was now trying to reach his tongue to his cheek to lick it off. The picnic was kind of boring. There were lots of kids there with their fathers, they were laughing and running and doing the obstacle course together.   
  
So, Zim thought, a father is just someone to have fun with. Well, who needed that anyway? It would have just diverted his attention from his ultimate goal. Yes, yes, his ULTIMATE goAL! Total world DOMINATION!   
  
Suddenly Dib walked past them, seeming as if he didn't even see them standing there. He didn't even stopping to glare at the alien as he headed towards the trees. But apparently he did see Zim because he turned and said, "You know what, Zim, you were right, I really don't know much about father after all."   
  
Zim watched as he sat down under one of the big oak trees. Dib crossed his arms, he looked downright pissed. At first the little green alien was going to go heckle him but then settled against it. What was the point? Dib was already pissed off, why try to get him even angrier. Where was the fun in that?  
  
They were a lot alike, Zim reluctantly thought, both fatherless... or as close as one could get.   
  
He walked over to Dib and sat beside him in uneasy silence.   
  
"What do you want, Zim? Going to come take me away when my guard is down and do experiments on me or something?"   
  
Zim grinned, and then stopped himself. "No, no... that comes later."  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"Um... nothing."  
  
"Nothing?" Dib sighed. "It's scary, you know, I think I finally understand how you feel... all alone in the world, no family, no friends... only a sworn enemy."  
  
"Enemies make the most interesting friends..." Zim let the sentence drift away. Were they friends? No... or maybe just for a moment. Today. Yes, and tomorrow they would go back to hating each other. That's just the way it would be. The way it had to be. The alien gave a small shrug, he'd never understand these humans and these emotions of theirs. "Hey... wanna go laugh at the people tripping in the three legged race?"  
  
Dib paused. "Um... okay."  
  
They got up and Gir followed as they walked towards the race, sworn enemies but so very similar.   
  
"You know, on Irk we had real three legged races."   
  
Dib laughed, "Weird..."  
  
  
THE END  
  
  
Did you like it? Well ,then please please please leave me a note :) I was originally going to call this "Fatherless" but that gave away too much, don't you think?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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